In many sectors, field representatives are used to educate customers and potential customers on the products of manufacturers and service providers. In the course of their duties, sales representatives make site visits and build a relationship with the customers and potential customers in their assigned territory. Typically, field representatives maintain records of their visits in accordance with any guidelines or requirements of the companies that they represent. The records of site visits can include details and have formats that vary widely among representatives and the companies they represent.
While there are many reasons for site visits, typically one of them is a commercial purpose relating to a product or service. It is difficult, however, to arrive at a meaningful determination as to the effectiveness of a given representative's activities in a territory.
On the one hand, there are companies that collect information relating to the consumption of products and services in a number of industries. Sales information is available commercially from such companies, and, depending on the industry, may be purchased by the market participants to gauge the progress of their products and services. One use of this information is for competitive awareness. For instance, in a variety of sectors, it can be of interest to manufacturers to gauge the relative performance of their offerings to those of other companies in the same product category. A non-limiting list of examples of sectors that can have this interest includes the pharmaceutical, personal care, medical device, toy, consumer electronics, office equipment, and construction equipment sectors. Another use of this information can be to track interest in a product or service that has been marketed or made available for purchase in a particular geographic area.
On the other hand, even if such information is available, it is not readily available to or usable by a field representative to gauge the effectiveness of the message he or she is trying to convey.
PCT WO 04036464 describes a system in which product sales data are utilized in conjunction with sales activity data to provide reports that can be used to analyze where changes in sales effort may be needed. That system provides information suitable for identifying potential changes in the sales efforts of an entire sales force, upon analyzing the number of sales calls made within a given time period.
What remains needed, however, are tools that can suggest changes in the sales efforts by a particular representative within a sales force, in which specific dates or timing of sales call events are coordinated with product sales data. The present invention addresses this deficiency in the art and provides other improvements useful to field representatives.